Trump’s Made in America event showcased U.S.-made cookies, yarn, and cowboy boots, among other products. While these offerings might provide a feel-good boost, they won’t bring back American jobs lost to manufacturing overseas and they won’t win Trump’s trade war.
On Monday, the White House hosted the second annual Made in America Product Showcase featuring prominent members of the administration. This year’s event comes as Trump is waging a trade war with the world and pushing tariffs as a solution to keep jobs in America.
During his remarks, Trump touted his successes as president saying that he was saving American manufacturing and that factories “were opening up all over.” The president also cited a favorite remark that the U.S., by engaging in free trade, was really suffering from “fool’s trade.”
Trump’s trade war, however, looks increasingly foolish — and his American-made farmers market-style showcase (plus a Lockheed Martin fighter jet) isn’t fooling anyone.
Already the iconic American brand Harley-Davidson has been pushed overseas by retaliatory tariffs, the result of the trade war. The American auto-industry, which Trump claimed to be helping in his speech, has asked the president not to impose further tariffs thereby damaging their much-needed business.
The agriculture industry is also being squeezed by Trump’s tariffs. Meat producers are watching their products sit in cold storage and will eventually have to sell them at lower cost to American consumers, hurting the profits of U.S. producers. Even before the trade war started, farmers expressed their concerns to Washington, warning that the president’s tariffs would badly damage the economies of states like Iowa.
Of course, these are just a few examples of how American companies are suffering from Trump’s trade war. Consumers, who purchase many low-cost goods from China, are also likely to feel the effects as the cost of goods they have come to depend on increase.
As the 2018 midterm elections loom, however, Trump is doubling down on the trade war, threatening even more tariffs on nearly every product imported from China. Even as Trump continues promoting his tariffs and saying that he is looking out for American workers, the economic reality indicates otherwise.
A short talk and hats embroidered with “Make Our Farmers Great Again,” like those the president held up at the Made in America Product Showcase, aren’t going to convince anyone, however, to look beyond their pocketbook.
